We always dreamed about this better life, this better life

Skye sat at the bar, new from the destruction of the last mission. Her head was buried deep in the plans of her latest scheme; team-bonding, she called it. She figured now that she's part of this team, life's short and she really has nothing to lose. She sat up and looked over her list of notes with a satisfied grin plastered to her face. Flawless, she thought to herself. Now all she needed was some supplies.

We always felt it coming all along, yeah all along

She whipped around in her chair only to stare right into the chest of Agent Ward. He gave her a weird look and asked her coolly, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she shot back probably a bit too quickly. She tried to appear normal as she reached behind her and snatched her notebook off the table. "What are you doing?"

"I asked you first," he said giving her a weird look. He walked around the bar to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Actually," Skye drawled out and idea forming in her clever mind. "I need to go to the store and get a few things. Take me there?"

Ward raised an eyebrow. "What kind of things?"

"Womanly things," she answered looking up at him innocently.

He scrunched up his nose, rather cutely Skye might add, and tried to wiggle out of the situation. "Maybe May can-"

"Good let's go!" she chirped up. She grabbed his elbow despite his protests and dragged him to the car.

We've got the keys to open paradise, yeah paradise

Ward pulled up sharply to the curb in front of Wal-Mart and grumbled, "Be quick."

"Maybe," Skye grinned stepping out of the car and into the Californian afternoon heat. As soon as she got inside to store, she skipped the feminine products and made a beeline for the electrical appliances. Coulson will love this, she thought happily.

Now let's go walking hand in hand

As soon as Ward pulled up inside the Bus, he charged out of the SUV and stomped upstairs leaving Skye to herself. Even better, she mused. She grabbed her bags of black lightbulbs, streamers, chips and illegal amounts of koolaid, and burst into the lab where Fitzsimmons were bickering with each other from opposite sides of the room. "Guys!" she shouted over their voices. "I need your help with something that will get us in a lot of trouble but will make Coulson at least some what happy."

Fitz looked at Simmons with a raised eyebrow. "What are you planning?"

Skye smiled. At least they were interested. "A little surprise for Coulson."

"And how much trouble will we get in?" Simmons asked, a twinge of playfulness in her tone.

Skye gave a little skip of excitement and set her bags a desk. She pulled out some extra spicy salsa, "So first..."

C'mon baby we can hit the lights

Ward blinked the sleep from his eyes and turned his head to the side. 6:38. He yawned and stretched out as much as he could in his tiny cubicle-bed thingy. Naps are the best, he thought to himself groggily. He yawned loudly and stood up to go check on Fitzsimmons.

Make the wrongs turn right

The first thing he noticed was how dark it was. It's not supposed to be this dark yet. Ward inched slowly along the wall, his senses fully awake. He was tense as he ran situations in his head. Then he noticed the heel of a shoe just around the corner. He held his breath, then lunged out into the seating area and barreled into the figure.

We can smash the club,

"Argh! Bloody-" Ward's eyes flew open as Jemma Simmons madly began whacking his head with a roll of party streamers, curses flowing out of her mouth in a blur. He rolled away from where he was situated over her and shook his head. The look on his face was priceless.

Make the pop go rock

Skye's eyes flashed in the dim light. "Cover his eyes! Hold him down!"

By the time Fitz was anywhere near him, Ward had already picked himself up off the floor and was staring around the Bus. "What-" Skye gulped, wondering how he would take it. Ward's eyes were as big as saucepans as he took in the black and purple streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling, the lightbulbs emitting black light instead of the comforting yellow glow. The bar was set with four jugs of crimson Koolaid and party-sized bowls of chips and salsa. All the furniture was pushed to the side and Skye had her smartphone hooked up to a speaker, ready to blast who knows what. Glow stick were everywhere; on the floor, in the balloons, and linked around the wrists and necks of the three guilty agents. Well, two agents and one consultant. "What the hell happened?" Ward demanded, his voice deathly quiet.

With a love this deep

No one said anything except for Sky who whispered loudly, "Jemma, press the panic button!"

As soon as Jemma lunged to press the send button on Skye's phone, Ward had snapped out of this trance and he took on a professional stance. "Where's Coulson," he charged at Skye.

She stepped back, pointing a roll of masking tape at his chest. "You can't tell him yet," she said slowly.

We don't need no sleep, and it feels like

"Like hell I can't!" he snapped. As soon as he started towards Coulson's office, Skye started whispering frantically to Fitzsimmons and they nodded furiously. Ward swung open the door to Coulson's office to see him slumped over his desk. "What the hell did you do to him!" he yelled over his shoulder causing Coulson to stir.

We could do this all night

"Nothing!" Skye yelped indignantly.

"Agent May is coming!" Simmons yelled across the hall.

"Abort! Abort!" Fitz screamed in panic as Coulson raised his head from his desk, a paper stuck to his forehead.

We could do this all night

Skye ran a hand through her hair as May's annoyed face came into her line of view. "Fitzsimmons! Follow my lead!" Ward shouted as Skye shoved past him and grabbed Coulson's wrist. "Sorry Coulson, but we have a surprise for you."

"I've never liked surprises," Coulson murmured groggily, bits of whatever Skye drugged him with only just wearing off.

Skye dragged him down the stairs followed closely by Fitz, Jemma, Ward who kept yelling, "This isn't protocol!" and May who was screaming the same thing in a dangerously lower tone. Skye gulped, hoping everything was worth it. "Leo! Open the doors! Jemma! Turn on the music!"

Yeah everything is alright

The music blasted loudly through the Bus and as the doors opened, orange, sunset light filled tumbled into the dark room; and so did a hundred young SHIELD agents. They poured into the Bus like a river and everyone's jaw dropped at the sheer amount of new recruits. All at once, everyone but Fitzsimmons began shouting angrily at her. Fitz yelled over them, "I can't believe you contacted so many people!"

She grinned madly despite Ward screaming profanities in her ears. "I have my ways!" She sucked the grin back in her mouth as and angry-looking Director Fury and Maria Hill came into their line of sight. Fury was uncomfortably silent and glared furiously at the team with his one menacing eye. When Fury's fiery gaze stopped on Skye, she yelped and made a move to run. Ward effortlessly grabbed her arm and pulled her next to him roughly. Fury turned to Coulson. "I let you hand-pick you're own team and you take in a Rising Tide hacker off the streets." Fury let out a humorless chuckle and looked back at Maria who stared at Skye as she struggled against Grant's grip. "Not even a week and she's exposed Level Seven intel to recruit that are barely Level One!" Coulson's eyes dropped to the floor shamefully for a moment. There was a moment of thick silence that was only broken by the pulsing beat of music. "You've lost your privilege to recruit without permission from me and you've lost her. I want her packed and out of my hair in the next 24 hours," He deadpanned.

Everyone except May exclaims in defiance. Even Grant who was still gripping Skye wrist like a lifeline. "If it's all the same to you, Director," Leo raised his hand and speaking in a quiet voice, "Skye had a really good reason for this."

"Well, I'll say, Coulson," Maria scoffed from behind Fury. "It's your birthday."

"Yeah," Skye exclaimed defiantly towards Fury. "A pretty important one too. You big bad SHIELD agents don't know how to have fun. It not that bad to take a break once in a while."

Fury just gaped incredulously at her. "You leaked classified intel, party-fied my Bus for a birthday party?!"

"Yes I did," Skye sniffed, regaining her confidence. "And now we are going to enjoy said party." Skye reached around Ward to take Coulson's hand. She began to lead them both up the stairwell while chirping happily, "This is going to be the best fiftieth birthday ever!"

Coulson just ran a hand through his thinning hair, embarrassed. "You could've just said 'birthday'."

Leo and Jemma sprinted after them, oblivious to the two agents glaring after them. May followed her team more reluctantly, shrugging. Fury just groaned loudly and rubbed his throbbing temples. That girl would be the death of him. "Y'know they won't let her go," Maria told him. He grunted angrily in reply. "But maybe she's what they need. She teaches them to let go and have fun. This team might need that every once in a while."

We got the keys to open paradise, yeah paradise

And it feels like

We could do this all night

Twenty minutes later the party was in full swing. Skye had turned on a mini disco ball and blasted a fog machine until the whole room was dark and colorful. The team was scattered throughout the party. Fitzsimmons were dancing their hearts out in a crowd of young agents that they seemed to recognize from their training. The two danced to the pulse of the song in their own unique style, causing the occasional laughter from the people around them. May had found a senior agent in the same field of work as her and they talked animatedly as they passed out red cups of Koolaid. May's face was stress-free as she laughed at something the man said and her eyes sparkled with a new-found youth. And then, in a quieter corner of the room, Skye and Ward held each other. They were oblivious to the world as they danced to a slow beat that only they could hear. Skye's head rested on Grant's chest and her arms reached up to wrap around his neck. He let his chin fall on the top of her head and his hands were placed at the tops of her hips. Skye sighed happily as she watched Coulson having the time of his life on the dance floor across Leo and Jemma. Coulson had taken off the jacket of his dark suit and was answering to a dance challenge of a younger agent. She smiled when she remembered that she had yet to make his day even better. She turned to look up into Grant's eyes and found him smiling warmly at her. She reached up on her toes to plant a sweet kiss on his cheek and reveled in the sense on completion that coursed through her body.

We could do this all night

Down below the dance floor, Fury was pacing the floor, antsy. He was alone. Maria had given into the music a long time ago. He spoke to himself, wondering how a twenty-one year old hacker off the street managed to plan this all in one afternoon. He was talking to himself about what Maria had been saying; how Skye brought fun and youth into the group when a horrifyingly familiar quinjet landed across the parking lot from the Bus. "Oh hell freaking no!" he shouted, his voice booming in the room. He rushed upstairs into the crowd, panicking, searching the sea of agents for Maria. He failed to see so much as a glimpse of her anywhere and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He rushed back downstairs and down the ramp of the bus only to bump chests with the one and only, Tony Stark. "Fury?" He exclaimed and Fury clenched his fists. He had to keep them away from Coulson. "I knew this was a SHIELD get together but I didnt know you'd be here."

Fury took a moment to give Tony a classic "are you serious" look. "I am SHIELD, Stark. And as far as I know, you aren't a part of it this 'get-together'."

"But I am," a steely female voice piped up from behind Tony. He should have known they would all come. He glanced behind Stark to see the rest of the Avengers, including everyone's favorite Norse god. Steve Rodgers glanced at the Bus with a raised eyebrow as if not believing there was a party inside. Agent Romanov stepped past Tony and Fury. Barton followed, nodding towards Fury respectively.

Tony threw his hands in the air and chased after the pair. "The party has arrived!" Clint punched Tony in the arm and said something Fury couldn't hear. He wanted to scream as Steve, Bruce and Thor stalked past him more slowly, discussing the size and design on the Bus. Fury sighed loudly and walked to the SUV he had driven there, defeated.

When Steve walked up the stairs behind Tony, he almost gasped. It was different from what he remembered; parties. The smoke was thick against the swirling lights and the music was deafening. He followed Tony to the bar, and shouldered his way through the mass of people, the air hot with breath. He politely accepted the red cup from a middle-aged Asian woman. He hesitantly took a sip of the red drink only to swallow the familiar taste of Koolaid. He watched Tony gulp down a mouthful. "interesting taste," he said smacking his lips together. "Not my first choice, but acceptable."

Steve shook his head. "It's just Koolaid, Tony. Like the one Thor-" He broke himself off as Tony's eyes widened and he dropped his cup. "Tony?" Steve asked suddenly concerned for his friend. "Is there something in the drink?" He asked panicked. He set down the cup on the bar with a few others.

"No," Tony breathed weakly. Steve's head snapped to his friend's face. His face was a mix of shock, disbelief, confusion and sorrow.

"Dammit, Stark!" Steve growled.

"Go get everyone else," Tony gulped before leaning on a wall. The shocked look on his face was enough to send Steve running. He found Bruce talking to a pair of young agents, Thor by the bowls of snacks, and Natasha and Clint talking to some of their SHIELD buddies.

When he rushed them back to Tony, Clint was pissed. "What the hell do you want, Tony? Drank too much already?"

Tony shook his head, unphased by Clint's ferocity. He pointed out to the dance floor with a shaky hand. "Tell me you see that. Tell me I'm not loosing my shit." Everyone turned to follow his finger and Natasha was the first to realize. She gasped and cursed quietly in Russian, covering her mouth. Clint squeezed his eyes shut and sank slowly to the floor. Bruce choked out an exclamation that no one understood. Steve struggled to find what Tony must've been pointing to in the crowd. And then he saw it- or more like "him".

Agent Phil Coulson was dancing, perfectly healthy and perfectly happy. Steve pursed his lips, swallowing his shock. Thor had taken his time in looking and when his eyes landed on Phil, he shouted, his voice hoarse with heartbreak and anger. He raced towards Phil who was staring at the oncoming god in shock and sorrow. Thor embraced Phil in his arms as tight as he could without crushing the man. "I thought you dead, Son of Coul," he murmured, his voice thick with tears. Phil was speechless as he patted Thor's back reassuringly. Natasha wasted no time in rushing over and gripping Coulson in a crushing hug. She battled her emotions hard but still had to squeeze her eyes closed against Phil's shoulder to keep from bawling. Thor released him allowing Steve to step in and wrap his arms around Natasha and Phil. He breathed in deeply and promised himself he would sign those cards, bloody or not. Phil swallowed back an uncharacteristic sob and hugged Natasha back. Tony crept up slowly behind Bruce who gave Coulson a quick man-hug.

"What the hell," he growled and hugged Phil roughly. Clint still leaned on the wall, his knees pulled to his chest and his eyes squeezed shut. He was hyperventilating, something he almost never did. He didn't notice the un-manly tears that streaked down his face until Phil had leaned down next to him and wrapped him in a fierce embrace.

"I couldn't fight him off," Clint whispered. "I thought I killed you."

"I was only out for eight seconds," Phil replied truthfully and reassuringly.

Sky watched the group reunite from her place with Ward. "It's beautiful," she whispered, half to herself.

"Hmm?" he hummed, his chest rumbling against hers.

"Their family. It makes me wish I don't have to leave in 24 freaking hours."

Grant shifts so that they can both watch the reunion of the Avengers and Phil. "Our team. We could be a family like that. If you don't leave."

"I could always beg Fury," she grinned.

"I think Coulson would do that for you."

We could do this all night.

-Icona Pop "All Night"

Well, that was my first song-fic AND my first fanfic. I absolutely couldn't wait to upload this. It came to me a long time ago but I took my time writing it. I was almost done a few days ago but my computer crashed because of my new freaking mouse. Ugh. I was so mad.

I hope I pleased the AoS fanatics! I've been camping out on the AoS page ever since that fateful Tuesday night of the first episode. I can't tell you how fast I shipped Skyward (and yes. that's actually a thing now). I'm rambling.

At least I can say I posted on of the top 100 fanfictions under Agents of Shield. ACHIEVMENT!